Historic Jimei Primary School

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Historic Jimei Primary School(Jīměi Xiǎoxué, 集美小学)
Jimei Links: Jimei Univ.Tan Kah Kee Biography Jimei Primary SchoolJimei Turtle Garden (鳌园),Returnees Hall(归来堂)Dragon Boat Races(龙舟)Yanping (Delayed Peace) Old Fortress(延平故垒)Jixing Causeway(集杏海堤)Xiamen Bridge

In 1913, Mr. Tan spent 2,000 Yuan to purchase a pond, which he filled in to form part of the school grounds. He wrote that his goal was to improve the nation and society by promoting education. In 1916, Mr. Tan sent his younger brother, Chén Jìngxián (陈敬贤), to prepare for a normal school and middle school. The land did not come cheap, as Jìngxián had to deal with local superstition and fengshui practices.

In March, Jimei Primary School became part of Tong’an’s Sixth Education District (Xiàmén was part of Tong’an at that time).

Tan started a women’s primary school in February, 1917, but most families preferred their daughters stay home and work.

The normal and middle schools began in March, 1918. Tan Kah Kee and his brother wrote the motto for the schools, “Sincerity & Perseverance” (Chéng Yì, 诚毅). Mr. Tan wrote to each county government in S. Fujian to seek poor students, and, during the early years, the schools provided all students not only with free tuition but also, in the normal school, free bedding, mosquito nets, and school uniform. Tan also emphasized recruiting children of Overseas Chinese for the Jimei schools to strengthen their feelings for their motherland (Jimei schools still have a large number of overseas Chinese students).

In February, 1919, Mr. Tan started the Jimei Kindergarten (or Babyhood Normal School, as someone translated it), and in May he designated his 1.5 million square feet of shops and warehouses, and 7,000 acres of rubber trees, as a perpetual endowment for Jimei Schools. While at a Heng Mei Factory (恒美厂) banquet, Tan announced that from then on he would funnel most of his business profits into education in China.

Tan started the Vocational School’s Aquatic Products Department in February, 1920, and the Trade Department in August, 1920. On February 23, 1921, the schools were formally named “Private Jimei School of Fujian”.
During the Fall of 1923, Jimei was caught in the crossfire between the Fujian and Guangdong Armies as they fought each other across the sea between Xiàmén and Jimei. Jimei School appealed to both armies to consider the area as a peaceful neutral zone. Sun Yat-sen agreed, and from then on the area was known as “Jimei School Village,” and considered a “Village of Perpetual Peace” (though this did nothing to stop the Japanese from bombing it to the ground in the 30s).

In May, 1925, the school purchased the Tian Mashan field, upon which was the Agriculture and Forestry School opened in June, 1926.

By 1932, Mr. Tan was subsidizing 73 middle and primary schools in 20 counties and cities, and had helped raise the quality of teachers and curriculum throughout Southern Fujian.

After war broke out with Japan in July, 1937, Jimei’s schools fled the “Village of Perpetual Peace,” which Japanese seemed intent on transforming into a “Village of Perpetual Pieces.” The schools relocated to remote counties, and in the spring of 1938 the middle school was moved to Anxi’s Confucian Temple (listed as “Confusion Temple” on one official map). The quality of teachers and education remained high, and students were more active than ever, not only in studying but in distributing anti-Japanese leaflets throughout the countryside (the Japanese executed many Xiàmén people for this).

After the war Mr. Tan sought the aid of relatives and friends in rebuilding the Jimei Schools destroyed by the Japanese. After Liberation, the school reopened on November 1st—only to be bombed by Kuomintang planes, which damaged buildings and killed several staff and students. But Jimei folk stuck at it and today the area is a thriving college town.

Jimei Links: Jimei Univ.Tan Kah Kee Biography Jimei Primary SchoolJimei Turtle Garden (鳌园),Returnees Hall(归来堂)Dragon Boat Races(龙舟)Yanping (Delayed Peace) Old Fortress(延平故垒)Jixing Causeway(集杏海堤)Xiamen Bridge